Inspiration Analysis

In my quest to enhance my coaching skills (and basic suite of knowledge) I've been "following" (usually meaning subscribing to someones blog or newsletter) and/or "scoping out" other people's work, content, programs, books, products, etc.  I'm always on the look out for cool stuff -- either for myself, my students or both!

Danielle and me

Just a few weeks ago I met Danielle LaPorte in person at a conference in Minnesota called Spark of Awesome.  Awesome it was!  Of the folks I've been scoping, I would put Danielle at the top of the list.  I love her style (really her presence), her ideas about life, her approach toward others, how she puts her work out into the world.  I find her inspiring.

During a session at the conference the topic of "other's work" and how it might inform our own came up. Besides mentioning a fun (and super insightful) little book called Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon (which speaks to this very topic), she explained her own process of conducting "inspiration analysis" on individuals she finds compelling.  The idea is to observe what about their work is really speaking to you -- what about their work is calling you to be more YOU?

Austin stresses this idea of how nothing is original.  He says, "What a good artist understands is that nothing comes from nowhere.  All creative work builds on what came before.  Nothing is completely original."  He refers to this as a "genealogy of ideas" where "every new idea is just a mashup or a remix of one or more previous ideas."  Right.

I like this.  As I've started to introduce Danielle's work to my students (as well as others), I feel like I have to qualify this by making sure I'm not coming across as a "cult follower" or something of that sort.  I hosted my first public workshop a few months ago and used Danielle's Desire Mapping technique.  While I considered creating my own content, it felt "safer" to go with Danielle's already established structure and process.  The thing is?  I found that it's hard to fully be myself this way. So I'm starting to think about this differently.  I can use her work as a "jumping point" to go deeper into my own.

So, what is it about Danielle and her work that inspires me to be more myself?

• She talks about stuff that really matters.  She prompts me to think about how I am in life.
• She entices me to go deeper than I normally do.  This is huge for me and one area that I really want to improve upon.  Everything she talks about takes on significant meaning and depth because of the meaning and depth she imbues upon them.
• Her boldness and realness helps me become more bold and real.
• She's super uplifting in her ideas and words.  She speaks of possibility and growth.  She invites me to create space and time to really explore this opportunity called life.
• She's just classy.  Her work is classy.  Her minimalist tendencies peppered with bold strokes of genius reach out and grab me.  I want to reach out and touch others in this way.

Right now I'm working on compiling all of the writing I've done on the graduate school process for my students in addition to creating new content.  It kind of freaks me out to say that I'm writing a book, but that's essentially what I'm doing.  I talked about this last year and never moved on it.  Now I am.

It's a perfect opportunity for me to "find my own voice" through my work.  The beauty is that It will result in something more tangible and comprehensive for the students to follow in their journeys.  It's an opportunity for me to develop the confidence to express myself and explore what it is that I have to offer others.  I think there might be a lot there.